The Look Back: Aug. 10, 1974

Thursday

Aug 10, 2017 at 2:01 AM

Gerald R. Ford becomes the 38th president of the United States.

1974: Republican Gerald Rudolph Ford took the office of president of the United States following the resignation of Richard Nixon, promising the public "our long national nightmare is over." Ford was the first unelected American president in the country's history.

Ford asked the country to "bind up the internal wounds of Watergate" and was already at work appointing his administration, the Erie Daily Times reported. He also asked for prayers and thoughts for Nixon and his family as Nixon returned home to California as a private citizen.

Ford served in office until Jan. 20, 1977, after he narrowly lost the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.